Today we’d like to introduce you to Katy Freitag.
Katy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I decided in high school I wanted to be an attorney – at the time no one in my immediate family had gone to college, so it was a big goal for me. I went straight through college and law school in 7 years and joined the Popham, Haik law firm in downtown Minneapolis. I was very fortunate to have many mentors there, but especially Wayne Popham who not only was a great law and life mentor, but also got me started riding horses. Wayne thought I was “working too much, and needed a hobby,” so I wouldn’t burn out. Coming from Wayne this was quite the statement, who was very hard working. Wayne got me started riding horses, which he described as “putting a match to gasoline.” After a short time a client of the firm had a horse case that I handled, a horse sale gone bad, which was my first “equine case.” That same client leased me my first horse. I later was recruited into NordicTrack as their second attorney in house and I do believe I was chosen because the CEO and General Counsel had race horses. My first high profile equine case was in private practice, when I had a case that I won through summary judgment get appealed all the way to the Mn Supreme Court; from that point forward I realized I would focus in equine law, both the litigation and transactional work. After years of competing in the English eventing world ( dressage, cross country jumping, roads and tracks, show jumping) to a high level ( now the two star, international level,) I switched to the western world competing in sorting and penning to the world show, so I could ride with my son. Over the years I have worked with a variety of equine professionals from barns, trainers, race horse syndicates to olympic athletes. I have litigated in state and federal court across the country, while also maintaining a horse farm and training, teaching for 15 years. This all lent itself to building a solid equine law business. I am one of the few MN attorneys that regularly attends the National Equine law conference in KY, which I have done since the early 90’s. :A little over 10 years ago when my 50th birthday was fast approaching I decided to try a new sport, triathlons. It was again like “putting a match to gasoline”. From my first sprint triathlon, I went on to do 6 ironman including qualifying for, and doing, the Kona World Championship this year. ( Ironman are a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run.). An early lesson I learned that I still attribute to Wayne and my days at Popham Haik is that while I work hard it is also important to maintain a balance with hobbies that provide a good stress relief – I perhaps take it to the extreme but it fits my personality well. Another lesson I learned early in life is to balance this all with my faith, my family and charitable service pursuits. So while I have done these things, I have also been active in Rotary, in various charities, and treasured my family time with husband, kids and grandkids. The most significant charitable pursuit, which also was a significant challenge to my business, was the “milesformoney.org” journey. https://youtu.be/WS0KGNPLZUM. My husband has stage 4 prostate cancer and while he was going through chemotherapy he lost his son to suicide which he later learned was from schizophrenia. For one year he cycled around the exterior of the country, almost 11,000 miles, while we raised funds and awareness for prostate cancer and schizophrenia. While he cycled I worked remote, driving the truck and trailer, supporting him and doing the media, marketing, fundraising and my job. Through all this and looking back on my 35 years, I have learned that each day is a gift. I have learned that we should not allow fear to dictate our live challenges, and to really live, you want to stay present in the moment. I seek to be grateful every day, even the hard ones.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obstacles are a normal part of life, the struggles build resilience. I have had plenty, too many to recount here. For my own business, which I have had for over 20 years now, I have learned that the “legal” part has been the easy part. Staying up on all the management sides, and especially the ever changing technology, has been more the challenge. Personally, all my competitive experience has involved obstacles- the most common one is injuries. For those injuries I have learned that you need to focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do.
Recently, when I was training for the Ironman World championships I had a pinched nerve in my neck that resulted in loss of use of my right arm, then excruciating pain in my neck, shoulder and arm. My whole right side was affected. This is not idea when you are training for an ironman, let alone the world championships which is a very tough race in Kona, Hawaii. I focused on what I could do – in the beginning bike on a trainer, run with my arm hanging and sore, but no swimming. I was thankful for the neurosurgeon who helped me, for my acupuncturists who is gifted as a healer, and I slowly regained mobility of my arm. I still remember the day I finally swam 25 yards. I cried. I knew I only had another 4000 to go… but it was a start. By doing what I could, staying grateful, and determinedly moving forward I made it to the start – and finish line at Kona.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
See above, what I already wrote too. We help small businesses with their general legal and litigation needs. We also focus in equine law, helping the equine professional, equine business owners and horse owners. Because of my personal experience competing, owning a horse and owning a farm, in addition to my 35 years of experience in equine law, we are exceptionally qualified to help the equine professional. I have litigated across the country in state and federal court, and had several successful equine jury trials.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Approaching each day with gratitude, staying present in the moment, and treating each day as a gift.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bloomquistlaw.com
